thoughts about learning…and other matters

The Party

Just watched an old Peter Sellers/Blake Edwards comedy, The Party. No, wait!…1968 can’t be old! It’s just…well…apparently it’s 45 years ago, so I guess it does qualify as an “old comedy.” Anyway, it’s very funny and really well done, though it certainly certainly wouldn’t be considered politically correct today. In particular, Peter Sellers’s role as a bumbling Indian actor plays into too many stereotypes. It’s not just the accent — after all, The Simpsons can get away with Apu’s accent — it’s also the make-up, the exaggerated politeness, and some of the lines. Otherwise Sellers reminds me of Jacques Tati, with the same sort of physical humor, and the film satirizes executives, racism, and sexism in ways that still work today. There’s a fantastic scene of a party that inadvertently illustrates Murphy’s Law, since everything that can go wrong does go wrong. It’s worth seeing the movie just for that scene alone. And when the baby elephant arrives at the party, well…I won’t spoil it by telling you what happens. Just rent the movie and watch it yourself.

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About me

I am starting my 21st year as a math teacher at Weston High School (the only public high school in Weston, MA, though sometimes it seems more like a private school). This is my 44th year as a teacher altogether. I also teach at Harvard’s Crimson Summer Academy each summer (this was the 15th!), and for 21 years I taught at the Saturday Course in Milton, MA. Until recently I served on the board of the Dorchester Historical Society.

I read, cook, and build my model railroad when I can. For some reason I’m left with less free time than would be ideal, but somehow I also manage to devote time to my wife, Barbara, and to our excessive number of cats.